Jim Hiller said the Leafs are still sorting out their lineup and he is not ready to pin down exactly what it will look like tonight. The coach said the team has been going 11 and seven, and after a short morning skate he wanted the group moving after spending yesterday on the plane.
The skate, he said, was meant to get the feet going a little bit and get some blood pumping before tonight’s game. That matters now because the Leafs are trying to settle their structure on the fly, with Hiller saying he still was not exactly sure what the lineup would look like as the day moved toward puck drop.
The bigger issue for Hiller was not only who plays, but how the team played. He said the Leafs did not like their game versus Utah despite the outcome, a blunt assessment that put the focus on details rather than the result. In his view, the group was close, but the quality of the game fell short, and too many turnovers made it harder to trust what followed shift by shift.
That concern cut across the ice. Hiller said Matthews and Nylander have been really dangerous together this season and noted he has a long history with them playing together during his time here. He said they have good chemistry, and he is comfortable with east-west passing when the puck is tape to tape. What he will not accept, though, is a hope play through the middle of the ice. There is a real difference, he said, and the team cannot turn it over the way it did against Utah.
The questions do not stop there. Hiller was also asked after one full game without Chris Tanev how much Tanev’s absence affects the back end, another reminder that the Leafs are juggling more than one moving part while the schedule keeps moving. He did not give a clean finish to any of it, only the sense that the lineup and the structure are still being tested at the same time.
For now, the best read is simple: the Leafs are heading into tonight still in experiment mode, still using 11 and seven, and still carrying a coach who wants cleaner decisions before he calls the group settled.
